Free Carolina Man by Virginia Kantra Page A

memories of Dawn. Hell, he could even understand their wanting custody of Taylor. Given the size of their house, the furniture on the porch, it figured they might not have room for all of Dawn’s stuff.
    But he hadn’t considered that they might want to get their hands on it for the money.
    To preserve Taylor’s memories, her inheritance, Kate had jumped in to store Dawn’s things. Out of her own pocket, apparently.
    Yeah, he was glad to have her on his side. “I’ll pay you back.”
    “You don’t have to. Dawn was my friend.” Kate glanced away, as if even that small personal admission embarrassed her. “Anyway, it was only for a couple of months.”
    She didn’t want to take credit, but Luke appreciated what she’d done. Not only the cost, but the effort involved. He should show his gratitude. Buy her dinner. Buy her flowers. Strip her out of that tight little lawyer suit and do whatever she wanted.
    Strictly to show his appreciation.
    It wasn’t like she was the first woman he’d seen in eleven months. Only one of the first who wasn’t wearing a burqa or cammies. Who wasn’t looking at him like she hated him or feared him or wanted him the fuck out of her way. She hadn’t thanked him for his service, but she wasn’t looking at him to save her, either. Or treating him like a soulless baby-killer.
    Given some of the things he’d seen and done, that might have been enough. But on top of all that, he liked her. The compassion she cloaked in professional interest. Her face.
    “You box everything up, too?” he asked.
    “I didn’t have a choice. Her rent was paid only through the end of the month.”
    She could have hired someone else to do the job, Luke thought. “So the house is empty.”
    She nodded. “I can take you to the storage unit if you want to look for that picture of Dawn. Or anything else.”
    “What about the cat?”
    “Dawn’s cat? Snowball?”
    “Yeah. You know what happened to it?”
    “No, I’m sorry. It wasn’t at the house when I was there. Did you ask the Simpsons?”
    “Yeah. Jolene told me how they couldn’t take the cat because of her allergies. So I asked her what they did with it.”
    “And?”
    “Nothing,” he said, disgusted. “I called the animal shelter, but they don’t have a record of a white cat being turned in. I thought I might have a look around her old place.”
    “I don’t see what good that will do. Someone else is probably living there now.”
    “I hope so.”
    Her brow pleated. He watched her work it out. “You think if someone moved in, they could have seen it.”
    “Or are feeding it. Yeah.” He shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”
    “I think that’s very admirable.” She hesitated.
    “Do I hear a ‘but’ coming?”
    She laughed, but her eyes were serious. “Are you ready to take on the responsibility for another living being right now?”
    He wasn’t used to having his judgment questioned. Maybe he wasn’t an experienced dad like Matt. But he was a squad leader, responsible for the lives of his men and the success of their mission. He kept them equipped, conditioned, trained, and alive. He did not have to explain or defend himself. So he joked instead. “I guess this is a bad time to tell you about the dog.”
    “What dog?”
    Definitely a bad time.
    “Listen, we’re talking about a kid’s pet here.”
Weren’t they?
“Taylor just lost her mom. I can’t tell her it’s too much trouble to look for her damn cat.”
    “And when you’re gone?” Kate asked quietly.
    Yeah, okay, she wasn’t just talking about the cat anymore.
    “We’ll work it out,” he said, not sure how, but it sounded good. “My family will help.”
    “You have a good family.”
    He grinned, amused by her precise pattern of speaking. “Is that your professional opinion?”
    She straightened her shoulders, which did nice things for her very pretty breasts. “My professional opinion is the only one that matters.”
    “Not to me,” he said, and was